Lisa Foster is a retired California Superior Court judge who co-founded the Fines and Fees Justice Center in 2018 after directing the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Access to Justice. She advises courts and policymakers nationally on reforming fines, fees and other monetary sanctions in the justice system. She earned a BA in American studies at Stanford and a law degree at Harvard. During ten years on the San Diego Superior Court, she heard criminal, family and civil cases and presided over its appellate division.
We have documented 2 statements by Lisa Foster, in 1 case. Each statement below gives the quotation, its original source and a link to the full case.
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Role at the time: Co-founder, Fines and Fees Justice Center; former California Superior Court judge
Condemned
Statement summary
Foster, a co-founder of the Fines and Fees Justice Center and a former California judge, said laws like Connecticut's function as an extra financial punishment on people who have already served their sentence.
“It's not the way we should be running the criminal justice system. It's a regressive tax”
Open source (opens in a new tab)They served their time in prison. Then the bills arrived.Full article, including the sections headed "Additional punishment," "The John Gottis of the world," "Blood from a stone," "Calls for repeal," "Collections continue," "A punch in the heart" and "Priority creditor"
Why we used this label
Foster rejects the law as an improper way to run the criminal justice system and frames it as an unfair extra tax on formerly incarcerated people.
Role at the time: Co-director, Fines and Fees Justice Center
Condemned
Statement summary
The committee recorded Lisa Foster urging repeal, arguing that incarceration fees are regressive and undermine reentry.
“Described statement (committee summary): The committee recorded Lisa Foster urging repeal, arguing that incarceration fees are regressive and undermine reentry.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Connecticut Judiciary Committee report on HB 5390Page 1, vote date and action; Page 2, ACLU-CT testimony summary; Page 3, Barbra Fair testimony summary; Page 5, Fines & Fees Justice Center testimony summary; Page 2, response from administration/agency
Connecticut charges incarcerated people up to $347 a day and can collect the debt for 20 years after release, including from settlements and inheritances. A 2026 investigation found the state collected about $21 million this way since 2020.
